Richard Maxworthy

Richard Maxworthy arrived per Lotus, 6 October 1829, probably indentured to Col. Peter Lautour.

Caldwell:
In Cliff-street between the property of Lionel Samson & Son and Marine Terrace was the grant of one Richard Maxworthy. He was a retired naval pensioner, having fought under Nelson at Trafalgar. Although he lost an arm in the service, he built a house on this land from salvage from the Lotus, on which he and his family arrived in October 1829, and also from wreckage of other vessels such as the Marquis of Anglesea (from which the two points—Marquis and Anglesea—on Arthur Head take their names). This house was afterwards blown down in a gale. In the early days there was a chain of pools connecting the promontory with the mainland, and in very rough weather it is said that the waves of the sea and river used to wash down Cliff-street. Maxworthy then moved to Leake-street, where he built an organ. He was a churchwarden of St. John's Church at the time of his departure for New South Wales in the 'fifties. About 1845, at the age of 16, his daughter married a man named Entwistle. In 1830, when a boy, this man had been sleeping with his father in the upper bunk of a hut at Melville, when natives killed the father, overlooking the boy. He had only been married a short length of time when one Sunday morning he went down with others aboard an American boat, as was the custom for the townsfolk to do in those days. This boat set sail without warning, and the Fremantle men were never heard of in the town again.

Erickson:
MAXWORTHY, Richard, b. 16.11.1783 (Devon), d. 4.11.1861 (NSW), arr. 6.10.1829 per Lotus with wife & 2 chd. m. 1st 11.5.1811 (Sydney) Sarah McLAUGHLIN, 2nd de facto with Ann WORTHY, m. 3rd 8.11.1824 (London) Mary Ann WRIGHT b. 20.10.1804 d. 17.11.1859. Chd. (1st wife), James b. 1811, Ann b. 1813 d. 1891, Richard b. 1815, (2nd wife) John b. 1820 (NSW) d. 1877, Sarah b. 1822, (3rd wife), Richard b. 1825 d. 1877 (Geraldton), Mary Ann b. 1828, Maria b. 1835 d. 1903, Frederick William b. 1838 d. 1917, William Henry b. 1841 d. 1870 (NSW), George Frederick b. 1844 d. 1881 (NSW), Louisa b. 1850 d. 1944 (NSW). Joined Royal Navy 8.1798. Served in naval battles & received the General Service Medal 1849. Lost an arm in Battle of Copenhagan 1801 & was pensioned off. Was 2nd officer on American whaler Hero when it arr. in NSW 7.1809 & was arrested for a felony committed in Mexico. Employed NSW as constable, sailor & landholder, believed to have accompanied Lt. P.P. King in Mermaid explorations. Returned to England c.1823. To WA part-time pilot & gaoler 1830, churchwarden at St. Johns. After death of his wife went to Wagga, NSW, to live with dtr by 1st wife. Richard (son), Mary Ann & Maria did not accompany him.

References and Links

Caldwell, Miss K[ate], 1931, [[../earlydays/1/caldwell.html|'Fremantle street names']], Early Days, vol. 1, part 9: 45-57.

Freotopia

This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 15 February, 2023 and hosted at freotopia.org/people/maxworthyrichard.html (it was last updated on 10 August, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.